Renato Berti

RENATO "RENÉ" BERTI (Padua, 1884-Vicenza, 1939).
"At the racecourse".
Oil on canvas.
Unsigned.
Published in the Catalogue Raisonné of the artist, Amaduzzi I. & Franzini E.
Measurements: 195 x 114 cm; 206 x 126 cm (frame).

This oil painting is part of the theme that made Renato Berti an essential chronicler of 20th century Italy: the world of horse racing. His jockeys, endowed with a characteristic elegance and slenderness, move away from academicism to embrace an aesthetic close to expressionism, where the dynamism of the scene is translated into vibrant brushstrokes. The composition stands out for a studied chromatic contrast, which oscillates between atmospheres of leaden tones and the vivid intensity of the green of the racetrack, capturing with mastery the vigor and distinction of this sport.

A painter, engraver and illustrator of Italian origin, Renato Berti consolidated a multifaceted career that ranged from portraiture and still life to the dynamism of his equestrian scenes and landscapes. His career was marked by a prolonged stay in Paris (1910-1938), the city that became his creative epicenter and where he achieved the prestigious status of associé and, later, sociétaire of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. With a constant presence in the Parisian Salons and competitions in Naples and Rome, Berti managed to merge the Italian pictorial tradition with the effervescence of the French school before his definitive return to Vicenza in 1938.